- Calories
- 210
- Protein
- 5g
- Fiber
- 3g
- Sat. fat
- 2g
- Sodium
- 210mg
- Added sugar
- 5g
What this recipe does for you.
A moist banana bread with no refined sugar, sweetened by very ripe bananas and a little maple, baked with whole-wheat flour and olive oil instead of butter. Naturally vegetarian and dairy-free.
Why this works
Every recipe on this site ships with an explanation of the technique decisions, why sear then braise, why the acid goes in at the end, why the fat renders before the aromatics. The method below is those decisions, in order.
Bananas that are almost too far gone
This loaf has no white sugar, so the bananas do the sweetening, and that only works if they're properly overripe. I mean heavily freckled to nearly black, soft enough to mash with a fork with no lumps. Underripe yellow bananas give you a bland, gummy loaf. If yours aren't there yet, roast them whole at 300°F for 15 minutes to force the sugars.
Ingredients
Serves 10- 3very ripe bananas · heavily speckled, about 1 1/2 cups mashed
- 2large eggs · room temperature
- 1/3 cupextra-virgin olive oil · or melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cuppure maple syrup
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cupswhite whole-wheat flour
- 1 tspbaking soda
- 1/2 tspbaking powder
- 1/2 tspkosher salt
- 1 1/2 tspground cinnamon
- 1/2 cupwalnuts · chopped, optional
Method
The bananas have to be nearly black
In a loaf with no refined sugar, ripeness is the whole game. Heavily speckled to black skins mean the starch has turned to sugar. Yellow-with-a-few-spots is not ripe enough and no amount of maple syrup will fix the flat flavor.
Measure the mash, don't count bananas
Bananas vary wildly in size. You want 1 1/2 cups of mash, roughly three large or four small. Too much and the center never sets; too little and the loaf is dry. Mash into a measuring cup so you can see exactly where you are.
Whisk the wet in one bowl, whisk the dry in another
The classic muffin method. Bananas, eggs, oil, maple and vanilla in one bowl; flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon in the other. Combining them fully mixed prevents pockets of baking soda that taste soapy.
Fold, don't beat
Once the flour goes in, switch to a spatula and fold just until you can't see dry streaks. Fifteen strokes, not fifty. Overmixing develops the gluten in the whole-wheat flour and turns a tender loaf tough and rubbery.
White whole-wheat, not regular whole-wheat
White whole-wheat is milled from a paler wheat, so you get the fiber without the heavy, tannic taste that makes some whole-grain baking feel like a punishment. Regular whole-wheat works but tastes noticeably denser. All-purpose works too if that's what you have.
Rest the batter 10 minutes before it goes in
Whole-wheat flour drinks up liquid slowly. A ten-minute rest lets the bran hydrate so the crumb bakes even and moist instead of grainy. Use that time to toast the walnuts, which wakes up their flavor.
Bake at 350°F and tent at the 35-minute mark
The natural sugars in banana and maple brown fast. If the top is dark by minute 35 but a skewer still comes out wet, lay a loose sheet of foil over it and keep baking. This is the fix for the burnt-top, raw-middle problem everyone hits.
Test with a skewer in two spots
The center of a banana loaf is the last thing to set and can read done at the edges while still gummy in the middle. Probe the true center; a few moist crumbs are fine, wet batter is not. Total time runs 50 to 60 minutes.
Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then on a rack
Straight out of the oven the loaf is still setting and will tear if you turn it out. Ten minutes in the pan, then onto a wire rack so the bottom doesn't steam and go soggy. It slices cleanest fully cooled.
It's better on day two
Like most quick breads, the flavor deepens overnight as the moisture redistributes. Wrap the cooled loaf and leave it on the counter; it's noticeably more banana-forward the next morning. Keeps three days wrapped, or freeze slices for three months.
Variations
Substitutions and adaptations land with the photography shoot. The method holds across most reasonable swaps.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 to 4 days, sealed. Freezer: up to 3 months. Reheat covered to retain moisture.
Frequently asked
- Can I make banana bread without sugar?
- Yes, and this recipe does. Very ripe bananas plus a quarter cup of maple syrup carry all the sweetness, which lands around 5g of added sugar per slice versus the 20g-plus in a classic loaf. The catch is the bananas must be genuinely overripe, that's where most of the sweetness comes from.
- Why is my banana bread gummy in the middle?
- Usually one of three things: too much banana mash (measure to 1 1/2 cups), the loaf was underbaked (probe the true center, not the edge), or the batter was overmixed so the gluten tightened. Tent the top with foil if it's browning before the center sets, and give it the full time.
- Can I use all-purpose flour instead of whole-wheat?
- Yes, cup for cup. All-purpose makes a slightly lighter, more cake-like loaf and loses about 2g of fiber per slice. White whole-wheat is the middle ground I prefer, all the fiber without the heavy taste of standard whole-wheat.
- How do I ripen bananas quickly?
- Roast them whole, skins on, on a lined tray at 300°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the skins blacken and the fruit is soft. Let them cool, then peel and mash. It forces the starch-to-sugar conversion so even yellow bananas will work in a pinch.
- Can I make this dairy-free or vegan?
- It's already dairy-free, the fat comes from olive oil, not butter. For fully vegan, swap the two eggs for two flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax plus 6 tbsp water, rested 10 minutes). The loaf is a touch denser but holds together well.
- How should I store banana bread?
- Wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days, which is when the flavor is best. For longer, slice it and freeze in a bag for up to 3 months, then toast slices straight from frozen. Refrigerating actually dries quick breads out faster, so skip the fridge.
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